Athens Ben Epps Airport is a county owned, public use airport located three nautical miles (6 km) east of the central business district of Athens, a city in Clarke County, Georgia, United States. The airport is named after Ben T. Epps, the first aviator in the state of Georgia, who opened the airport in 1917. It is mostly used for general aviation, but is also served by one commercial airline with scheduled passenger service subsidized by the Essential Air Service program.Until May 23, 2008, the airport was served by twice-daily flights to Charlotte on Air Midwest operating as US Airways Express. SeaPort Airlines was the last airline providing scheduled service to the airport, with daily flights to Nashville. On September 28, 2012, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) awarded SeaPort Airlines with daily flights to Nashville replacing GeorgiaSkies. The Athens Airport Authority is currently in negotiations with an unnamed airline to start regional service to the New York City area and Baltimore area.
